12:41 AM, March 12, 2014

Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew. / Associated Press

By Anthony Kuehn

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

Anthony Kuehn is the editor of the Detroit Lions blog Lions Gab. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. Get in touch with Anthony at lionsgab@gmail.com or on Twitter @lionsgab.

Free agency is officially open and the early activity has been chaotic but, as of press time, the Lions have been quiet. The biggest disconnect between most fans and the people that run the teams occur during free agency. A lot of fans look for big splashy moves right out of the gate and panic when their team stays on the sidelines.

Martin Mayhew still catches a lot of flak locally and nationally as the Lions general manager because of a handful of draft picks that didn’t pan out and two underachieving seasons on the field. I’ve broken down Mayhew’s drafting in the past and proven he’s at the very least been an average drafter, if not above average.

Free agency is about so much more than signing top players and grabbing headlines and Martin Mayhew’s track record confirms that.

The Lions were coming off an 0-16 season and had little to no chance of competing for a playoff spot in 2009. Mayhew knew he needed to replace about 90% of the roster to become a playoff contender and most of that building had to occur through the draft, so his plan was to acquire enough talent to avoid going 0-16 again without crippling the salary cap situation.

When free agency opened, the Lions probably had a good idea that they were going to draft a quarterback with the first pick in the draft so Mayhew added a couple veteran linemen, a tight end and a complementary receiver to help him out. Bryant Johnson wasn’t anything special, but he was a solid contributor for a few years. Loper played well and ended up leaving via free agency for a bigger contract and Salaam was nearing the end of the line. Gandy would be the backup at all three interior line positions for five years and Heller became a valuable role player for several seasons as well. Not a bad offensive haul.

Defensively, the additions were a little more short term as Jackson, Buchanon, Foote, Manuel and Henry only played one season, but they helped mentor young players that arrived via the draft. Sammie Lee Hill, Willie Young, DeAndre Levy and Louis Delmas all gained valuable experience from those veterans.

Julian Peterson played two seasons and was a Pro Bowl alternate for one of them.

2010 free agent class

Trades: DT Corey Williams and a 7th round pick in exchange for a 5th round pick, CB Chris Houston in exchange for a 6th round pick, QB Shaun Hill in exchange for a 7th round pick, G Rob Sims in exchange for DE Robert Henderson and a 5th round pick, TE Tony Scheffler in exchange for LB Ernie Sims (3 team trade)

This might have been Mayhew’s most brilliant off-season despite the lack of free agents. Since the free agency era began, players became unrestricted free agents after four years but in the uncapped year they weren’t unrestricted until completing their sixth year. That reduced the player pool significantly and added more risk to free agents since all the free agents were closer to the end of their careers than the beginning.

Mayhew signed two players that would become locker room leaders and help mold two of their best players. Burleson took Calvin Johnson under his wing and helped turn him from a deep threat into the NFL’s best receiver. Meanwhile, Kyle Vanden Bosch spread his infectious intensity and work ethic into Ndamukong Suh as well as Willie Young and Cliff Avril. Most importantly, both players were signed to reasonable deals that gave the team an out when their age or injuries became a factor.

Wade was a young player that had unharnessed potential and was a great upside signing while Wesley signed to add depth and play special teams. Neither panned out as expected, but they had no impact on the cap.

Corey Williams, Chris Houston, Shaun Hill, Rob Sims and Tony Scheffler all became key pieces for the Lions eventual turnaround and they were had for two 5th round picks, a 6th, a 7th and two players that were going to be cut.

Williams played at a high level until a knee injury ended his career. Houston is still the Lions’ best cornerback, even though he had a down year after struggling with injuries. Hill is one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL and mentored Stafford through his early injured years. Sims is still one of the best interior offensive linemen in the league and Scheffler was an impactful downfield threat until a concussion may have ended his career.

2011 free agent class (lockout-shortened)

The lockout postponed free agency until the start of training camp and left little to no time for teams to adjust to the market. The Lions had a plan and nailed it.

Durant, Tulloch and Carpenter all made a huge impact and Tulloch is still a key member of the defense. Durant played two solid seasons for the Lions before moving on last year. Carpenter was a key backup and fueled a 20+ point comeback against Dallas with a pick 6 in 2011.

Davis was a valuable special teamer and slot receiver who also played CB when the Lions got banged up late in the season. Wendling was a special teams dynamo for three years. Stovall was a depth signing and another valuable addition to the special teams units. Harrison’s career was cut short by a brain tumor, but he was a great change of pace back for the limited time he played.

Eric Wright stabilized the secondary and helped the Lions make the postseason for the first time since 1999.

Mayhew also navigated the free agency waters with aplomb by offering short term deals and targeting players that played in similar schemes to minimize the learning curve. Remember, these players got four weeks to learn the Lions’ systems before taking the field in live action. Wright ended up being the smartest short term deal as he left for the Buccaneers and was suspended and released less than halfway through his contract.

2012 free agent class

Signings: P Ben Graham and CB Jacob Lacey

The Lions were cash-strapped and focused on retaining their own free agents. Cliff Avril was franchised and ate up most of the Lions’ cap room. Lacey was a solid nickelback and spot starter and Graham was punting well until he got injured trying to make a tackle on a punt return.

Mayhew wisely avoided restructuring deals to go out and spend on players, instead focusing on retaining all but one starter from the 2011 playoff team. Poor coaching and off field issues ended up dooming the 2012 season, but more often than not retaining 96% of your starters from a playoff season is a great off-season.

Mayhew once again nailed a free agency period with smart value signings on players that could come in and contribute right away. Even though they made a splash on the first day, none of the contracts were out of line.

Bush was the big play threat the Lions’ were searching for and had a great season even though he faded at the end and struggled with turnovers. That was more of a poor coaching decision to feed Bush a heavy workload in the beginning of the season rather than a poor signing.

Jason Jones was having a very good season until he injured his knee against Washington, he offers run stuffing ability outside on early downs and a pass rushing presence inside on passing downs. Glover Quin was everything the Lions hoped for as he had a great season despite playing through an injured ankle for a large portion of the season. All three were great locker room guys as well.

CJ Mosley was picked up in the second stage of free agency to fill the void left by Corey Williams. He was an excellent run stuffer and played no small part in the Lions suffocating run defense.

Mayhew then showed his savvy by waiting until after the deadline for transactions counting in the compensatory pick formula before making additional views. Each year the NFL awards compensatory picks based on how many free agents each team signs and loses and awards draft picks to teams that lose more than they gain. The formula doesn’t consider free agents signed after a certain date, so Mayhew waited until that date passed before making any more additions.

Once he did start back up, he added key pieces that offered depth and production. Rashean Mathis ended up being the best of the bunch, as he was the Lions’ most consistent cornerback and veteran leader in the secondary. Idonije was a great locker room presence and mentor for the young ends added in the draft. McIntosh gave the Lions a veteran backup linebacker and solid special teamer. Harris was not needed, but he was a veteran backup and insurance policy in case Larry Warford struggled.

Again, don’t confuse poor coaching with poor transactions, the Lions didn’t finish 7-9 because they didn’t have talent, they finished 7-9 because they were poorly coached. Jimmy Johnson repeatedly said the Lions were the third most talented team he saw last year behind the Broncos and Seahawks. Jimmy Johnson was one of the best talent evaluators in NFL history and his philosophies revolutionized the way teams draft and evaluate players.

Summary

Not one of the moves listed above grabbed major headlines or got the Lions labeled as the “winners” of free agency. In a related note, not one of those moves crippled the Lions’ cap or ended up being a bad deal in hindsight. The main theme of all the signings was finding value and having a plan in place for each player.

The first day of free agency has seen a lot of money being thrown around on a lot of players that will likely never live up to those lofty contracts. The perennial winners rarely jump into the free agency waters when they are churning like this, so it’s good to see the Lions understand that.

The Lions will miss out on some players that could help the team and that is unfortunate, but why spend a premium on Player A when Player B can offer 80% of the production at 50% of the price?

Martin Mayhew’s track record indicates the Lions have a good plan in place and will execute that plan. His track record indicates that is the perfect route for the Lions to take.